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Cruise selling tips
Hurtigruten is good for single travellers of
Client
40 upwards and has no single supplements. It
arranges get-togethers for singles but this is
not forced upon passengers, so this is a good
option for lone travellers feeling trepidation at
match
the thought of a cruise as a dating event.
For the 20-40 age bracket, I recommend
easyCruise. It has special offers for singles
sailing around the Greek Islands and presents
wonderful island hopping opportunities at
affordable prices. It’s great for young travellers
who want flexibility – you can join the ship
at a range of ports, and it often stays in port
With so many options in the cruise
overnight so guests can dine off the ship and
industry, narrow the choices by defining
experience the local nightlife.
exactly what your client wants. We
Solos Holidays now works with agents – it
has allocations on a range of ships from Nile
asked the experts for their inside tips
cruises to NCL (pictured, below), Island Cruises,
Royal Caribbean International and Star
Clippers. It organises group trips sleeping in
single cabins that are commissionable at 10%.
It is important to match the customer’s age
and expectations to the right ship. Get it
Diane Denney wrong and you lose all future sales, along
director, with your credibility. So you need to know
Somewhere2travel2; Someone2travelwith your single customer before booking them
on a ship. Ask lots of relevant questions and
Singles seek advice if necessary. The Association of
B
y 2011 it is estimated that eight about 40% for sole occupancy, which isn’t Cruise Experts offers support and training,
million of the UK population bad when you consider some lines charge and has a useful database of ships and their
will be single. The booming 200%. itineraries.
cruise industry is an ideal For river cruising in style, Peter There are companies offering the service of
market to capture this growth. Sadly not Deilmann ships are small and friendly. matching up single travellers before they book
all lines cater for the solo traveller, as Three of its ships have single cabins and – this can help take the stress out of
revenue is based on cabin occupancy and prices vary for sole occupancy after that. travelling alone.
onboard spend. But look out for more Cosmos Tourama is popular for mid- Finally, don’t treat your solo traveller as a
companies recognising the value of the range river cruising. Its Venice and river ‘“Billy no mates”. They may well be nervous
solo traveller in future, and in time even Po cruises have no single supplement, and about travelling alone and you should be as
the big boys will change their tune. supplements for its Rhine and Yangtze enthusiastic about their plans as possible to
For the fifty-pluses, look at Fred Olsen cruises start from £28 per night. erase those worries and clinch the deal.
Cruise Lines. They have one of the best
ratios of single cabins with no supple-
ments – Balmoral has 63 single cabins.
They do a range of offers with no single
supplements on different itineraries. They
also offer companion share options on
certain cabin grades where they book two
single travellers in the same cabin. The
downside of this is you don’t get to meet
your roommate until embarkation. Olsen
also has solos get-togethers onboard ships
and gentlemen hosts to act as dance
partners, plus its Civilisations programme
and Arts Club are great ways to meet other
solo travellers.
For fifty-pluses with a bigger budget,
Regent Seven Seas Cruises is a good
option. It has all-suite cabins and often
promotes a range of offers with no single
supplements. Otherwise the supplement is
28
TTG Knowledge – March 2009
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